Post on 13-Jan-2017
transcript
Elements of
Narratives
Personal NarrativeA story about a moment in
your own life.
It is not an autobiography (a story about your entire life)!
A personal narrative focuses on a single event or moment in your life.
Fictional Narrative
A story about a moment in a made-up character’s life.
You create the characters, setting, and conflict, but it should still
focus on a single event or moment (because this is a SHORT story!)
Focus!You can’t write a novel! When creating your
story, focus on a single moment or very few moments.
Personal Narrative: I will tell the story of the moment when I forgot my lines while
performing on stage.
Fictional Narrative: I will tell the story of the moment when my character got lost in the
woods.
Point of View:1st Person:
“I never thought that owning a dog would be so challenging. When I brought Fluffy home for
the first time, she destroyed my favorite
pair of shoes within five minutes. After I found the damage, I locked
Fluffy in her crate.”
3rd Person:“Amber used to think that owning a dog would be
easy, but when she brought Fluffy home for
the first time, she discovered she was
wrong. Fluffy had destroyed her favorite pair
of shoes. When amber saw them, she locked
Fluffy in her crate.”
Narrative ElementsThere are 5 main elements that apply to narratives in general:
1. Character 2. Setting 3. Conflict 4. Plot 5. Theme
These are the main
“ingredients” in a story.
CharacterThe main people (or other living things) that are involved in your story.
YOUR GOALS AS THE WRITER:
• Show who your characters are through their behaviors. • Show what motivates your characters. • Make your characters realistic.
SettingWhere do different scenes in your story take place?
YOUR GOALS AS THE WRITER:
• “Paint” a picture of the scene. • Create a mood. • Establish context for the story (time and location).
ConflictWhat problem or challenge does the main character in the story face?
YOUR GOALS AS THE WRITER:
• Create tension and interest in your story by making readers doubt that your characters will be successful.
• Create a problem that motivates and drives the actions of your characters.
ConflictBoth narrative types need to focus on a conflict that the main character faces.
Every story worth reading has a conflict.
If there is no conflict, there isno tension in the story.
Types of Conflict:External Conflict: Internal Conflict:
Pip can’t decide if he should join basketball
or swimming.
The coach says that Pip isn’t allowed to join the
cross country team because he is a robot.
Pip will have to struggle against the coach if he wants to join the team.
Pip will have an internal struggle to
decide what is best for
him.
Man vs. SelfA man struggles to be kind to his wife’s ex-boyfriend even though he is very jealous
A woman struggles to understand her identity when she is half Chinese and half American
A man struggles to quit a drug addiction
examples
Man vs. ManTwo men fall in love with the same woman
A student struggles against a mean teacher that always gives him detention
A hero must defeat the villain who ruined his life
examples
Man vs. NatureA man is attacked by bears while on a camping trip
A family struggles to survive during a hurricane
A drought kills all of the crops, and a farmer must try to survive without food or money
examples
Man vs. SocietyA gay couple tries to find acceptance in a society that does not accept their choices
An immigrant fights to change a law that prevents him from becoming a citizen
A man wants to become a artist, but his family expects him to be a doctor
examples
Man vs. TechnologyA man struggles to hack a computer in order to steal information
A farmer’s tractor breaks down, and he struggles to fix it in time for the harvest
A team of students struggles to build an underwater robot for a contest
examples
Man vs. SupernaturalA man struggles to survive as a god tries to ruin his life
A man struggles to get home after being transported back in time by a mysterious spell
A fated prophecy states that a man will kill his father, and he struggles to prevent this from happening
examples
Conflict:What might conflict look like in a personal narrative or college admissions essay?
• You vs. an academic or co-curricular challenge
• You vs. expectations others hold for you • You vs. personal shortcomings • You vs. friends or family members • You vs. a experience of failure • You vs. …
PlotHow is the problem introduced? What steps does the character take to solve the problem? How is the problem is solved?
YOUR GOALS AS THE WRITER:
• Create a series of events that shows how your character strives to overcome the problem/conflict.
• Create a plot that feels original (avoid cliches).
ThemeWhat does the story seek to tell us about life or human nature? What’s the message of the story?
YOUR GOALS AS THE WRITER:
• Write a story that means something more to readers than the surface-level enjoyment of events in the plot.
• Don’t make your theme/message obvious or repetitive.
Let’s identify elements of narratives in Disney’s…
Mulan
CharacterHow does the author teach us about who the main characters are? (Personality, habits, beliefs, physical appearance, desires, history, etc.?)
We first meet Mulan. She ties a
bag of grain to her dog, and uses the
dog to feed the farm animals.
Exposition
What does the character’s action SHOW you about their personality?
Character
We first meet Mulan’s father. He is praying to his
ancestors for Mulan to not mess
up on her important day.
How does the author teach us about who the main characters are? (Personality, habits, beliefs, physical appearance, desires, history, etc.?)
Exposition
What does the character’s action SHOW you about their personality?
Character
Mulan seems slightly more
confused, awkward, and
disorganized than the other girls in
town.
How does the author teach us about who the main characters are? (Personality, habits, beliefs, physical appearance, desires, history, etc.?)
Exposition
What does the character’s action SHOW you about their personality?
Character
She ruins her meeting with the
town matchmaker in every way
possible.
How does the author teach us about who the main characters are? (Personality, habits, beliefs, physical appearance, desires, history, etc.?)
Exposition
What does the character’s action SHOW you about their personality?
SettingHow does the author create a mood with setting? How does the setting enrich the overall story?
ConflictWhat struggle motivates the characters to act? A good story tends to have more than one conflict.
Mulan sings a sad song because she feels like she can’t
be herself. (Her family/the
community expects her to be
a housewife).
Intro Conflict
ConflictWhat struggle motivates the characters to act? A good story tends to have more than one conflict.
An army is approaching China and new soldiers
are being recruited. One man from every family must go, so Mulan’s father has
to enlist even though he is old
and injured. Women are not allowed in
the army.
Intro Conflict
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan dresses up as a man and
goes to enlist in the army in order
to protect her father. She meets her incompetent dragon protector,
Mushu.
Rising Action
CharacterHow does the author teach us about who the main characters are? (Personality, habits, beliefs, physical appearance, desires, history, etc.?)
Rising Action
The leader of the Huns, Shan Yu, captures two
Chinese scouts and kills one
because only one man is needed to
deliver a message.
What does the character’s action SHOW you about their personality?
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan tries to act like a man at the training camp in
hopes of keeping her identity secret.
Mulan develops a crush on captain
Shang.
Rising Action
Note that new conflicts arise that build on the main conflicts which have already been established.
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan gradually proves that she’s
capable of being a soldier.
Rising Action
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan and friends finally fight the Huns.
Mulan comes up with a clever plan to
help them win.
Rising Action
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan gets injured, so everyone finds
out she is a woman. She is kicked out of
the army.
Rising Action
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan discovers that the Hun army was not destroyed, so she rides to warn
people in the capital.
Rising Action
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan reunites with her friends and they come up with a plan
to protect the Emperor and stop
the Huns.
Climax
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan & friends kill Shan Yu with
fireworks, and China is safe.
Climax / One Conflict Resolved
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan is honored by the Emperor.
Mulan travels home.
Falling Action
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Mulan’s father says he is proud to have her as a daughter.
Conflict Resolved
PlotWhat events move the story forward and help the characters resolve their conflicts?
Conflict Resolved
Captain Shang shows up at
Mulan's house looking for her.
ThemeWhat’s the message of the story? What does the author want to tell us about life and human nature?
Mulan’s father tells her that “the flower that blooms in
adversity is the most beautiful of all.”
Mulan is happy about who she is after going against the societal expectations people
held for her. She also receives more acceptance from other people after this happens.
ReflectionReflect, or share your thoughts, about why the story you are telling is meaningful.
YOUR GOALS AS THE WRITER:
• Make your thoughts in your narrative more important than the events you are describing. Events are generic, but your thoughts are unique.
• Reveal what you or other people learned by sharing thoughts • Reflection doesn’t always have to be positive or uplifting, and
you do not have to shy away from the truth of what you experienced, even if it resulted in failure or tragedy. Honesty, vulnerability and even confrontation of difficult lessons will make your essay even more poignant.
ChangePersonal narratives tend to depict change. Maybe your skill level changes, your beliefs change, the way you understand the world changes, your mood or habits change…etc.
Often characters learn something from the change.
OutlineBeginning
• Who is(are) the main character(s)? • What is the setting? • What is the problem?
Middle• How does the character try to solve the
problem? End
• Is the problem resolved? How? • Reflect: why was this event important or
meaningful in the life of the character?